After July 1, the town will only pick up trash if it’s in the prescribed green bag, which can be purchased at local stores in two sizes.

The idea behind the new program is that, since people will be paying by the bag, they will make a greater effort to accumulate less trash and will recycle more. The town will pick up trash as it has before, every two weeks.

The bags cost 50 cents for a small bag, which holds up to 20 pounds, and $1 for a large bag, which holds up to 40 pounds. They are sold in packs of five.

“I’ve already been through my original order of three cases,” said Marilyn Sicotte, manager of White Wing Mobil, one of the South Hadley businesses that sell the bags. “There are 40 bags per case. I’m on my second order, and I have three more orders coming in this week.”

Like others, Sicotte said it was hard to anticipate how many bags she would need. Fortunately, she said, it only takes two days for the orders to arrive.

The South Hadley Department of Public Works received notice that one of the Big Y stores was out of the large-sized green bags, but DPW superintendent James Reidy said it had ordered more.

“With any new program,” said Reidy, “there are always a few bugs.”

At Cumberland Farms, assistant manager Theresa Walsh said she, too, was almost out of the larger bags, and would reorder.

At O’Connell’s, people asking to buy bags have been told they couldn’t yet. Cashier Carmen Torres explained that it’s because the price has not been programmed into the register. She said the bags will be available July 1.

Green bags are also available at Gagne’s, Tailgate and Stop and Go.

“There’s been quite a demand,” said Reidy, “which is good!”

One consumer reported that the drawstrings on his smaller bags were stuck to the plastic, but that may have been an anomaly.

The Green Bag program in South Hadley was developed by the DPW in conjunction with the town’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee.

“With any new program, you’re going to have folks that are concerned,” said Reidy, “but we’ve done our homework, and we’re confident that this will be good for the town.”

For more information on the Green Bags program, go to the South Hadley website or call the DPW at (413) 538-5033.